Seth, I've publicly asked that no private e-mail be sent to me about the Bell case. Do it in public or not at all. You could be tarring me as others have done, for whatever noble reason. Offense intended. You are way behind the curve on this matter, and privately whispering advice is cowardly, not unlike noble journalists and attorneys have done to me. Show your face, no stalking, thanks. John Seth Finklestein wrote:
[you wrote]
No call back from Leen on my inquiry about being a witness for Bell. Fuck him, bedwetting with the feds. [Elsewhere ...] Feds and Leen in the same peapod with Jim: all lust for the spotlight and like the WWF have no shame in faking stalking each other as if serious, preening in the mirror.
Check out Leen's record. He DOES NOT look to be the type who gets in bed with the Feds. I think at the very least you should get his side of the story.
http://www.mndaily.com/daily/gopher-archives/1990/10/29/Man_jailed_for_sayi ng_he_would_punch_Bush.txt
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/shot283.shtml
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/971229/29mili.htm
http://firms.findlaw.com/rleen/ http://firms.findlaw.com/rleen/affiliates.htm http://firms.findlaw.com/rleen/memos.htm
If you want to do something to help Jim Bell in getting a good defense, here is my suggestion, take it for what it's worth to you:
Take some more initiative to get in touch with Robert Leen. His contact info, including a mail form, is available on Martindale-Hubble, at
http://lawyers.martindale.com/Executable/listing.php3?lid=2076060org=1
Explain the whole "cypherpunks", err, state of mind. Give the guy a chance. Look at it this way - if he is in collaboration with the prosecution, your discussion with him can hardly make things much worse. However, if he is not, if he is an honest defense attorney doing the best he can in a bad situation, then you are in a good position to aid him. The risk is low, the potential benefit is large.
__ Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf@mit.edu http://sethf.com